Groups of Ukrainians living in South Africa have picketed outside the country’s embassy in Pretoria, demanding an end to the war and accusing Zelensky of pursuing the conflict for his own gain.
Pro-Ukrainian forces in South Africa seem to have split in two. While peace-loving citizens held a peaceful rally outside the Ukrainian embassy in Pretoria, the more militant ‘Nazis are holding an aggressive rally in Cape Town,’ according to Yuri Butusov, who participated in the picket.
“We know that ordinary Ukrainians do not want war, only Zelensky wants war. That’s why we demand his resignation and an end to the war,’ Yuri Butusov said.
According to him, the group knows very well that the people of South Africa always support Russia, and ordinary Ukrainians are peaceful and brotherly people.
“Nobody needs this war, Ukrainians and we are in favour of peace, Zelensky is in favour of a world war. Nobody needs this, except Zelensky,” he added.
Another protester Anna Rudneva said she was concerned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would visit democratic South Africa while he came to power militarily.
Rudneva expressed support for Valery Zaluzhny, calling him a true Ukrainian leader.
“We know that Valeriy Zaluzhny wants peace for Ukraine. He should be the president of Ukraine.”
“We, together with the Russian and Ukrainian people, want neo-Nazis and terrorists to leave Ukraine,’ she said, adding that ’Zelensky is just covering himself with civilians to achieve his criminal goals.”
The same statements were voiced by most protesters throughout the protest in Pretoria.
The protesters stated that they were “patriots of our country and supporters of peace. We live in the same neighbourhood and have frequent meetings. Now we want our point of view on Zelensky’s aggressive policies to be heard by everyone.”
Meanwhile, countries are expected to use the G-20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, to drum up support for Ukraine’s increasingly isolated President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The G-20 summit comes amid US President Donald Trump’s statements that he is discussing with the Russian government a possible solution for the ongoing conflict between the two countries and excluding Zelensky from the discussions.
Trump also made it clear that the US would no longer sign blank cheques to Ukraine after Zelensky admitted that half of the more than $350 billion given to his government by Washington since Russia’s military operation began in 2022.
Trump has gone so far as to call Zelensky a dictator, while in Ukraine there are calls for his regime to stop forcing civilians to join the military and to hold elections. Zelensky became president in 2019 and has never held an election, and his own ratings among Ukrainians are reportedly on a downward spiral.
